Card-index file or cabinet.



PATENTED APR. 25, 1905.

J. S. NOWOTNY. GARD INDEX FILE 0R CABINET.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 18.1904.

Patented April 25, 1905.

PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN S. NOVVOTNY, OF MADISONVILLE, OHIO.

I CARD-INDEX FILE ORCABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 788,276, dated April 25, 190.5.

Application vfiled July 1S, 1,904. .Serial No. 217,131.

To all whom, it may cm2/cern:

Beitknown that I, JOHN S. NowoTNY, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Madisonville, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Card- IndeX Files or Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in filing devices, and more particularly in such devices commonly termed card or desk trays, which are adapted for receiving cards and which are provided with a follower for holding such cards in position; and the object of the invention is to provide a device of this general character of a simple and inexpensive nature and of a strong and durable construction having improved means for holding the followerin position pressed upon the cards and also of otherwise improved character.

The invention consists in certain novel features of the construction, combination, and arrangement of the several parts of the improved iling device whereby certain important advantages are attained and the device is made simpler, cheaper, and otherwise better adapted and more convenient for use than various other similar devices heretofore employed, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure l is a side elevation of the improved filing device embodying my improvements, one end of said device being shown in vertical section to illustrate the construction and arrangement of the follower therein. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improved filing device, the lids or covers thereof being shown in opened position. Fig. 3 is a front end elevation of the device, the lids or covers being shown in opened position and one of said lids or covers, together with one side wall of the casing towhich said lid or cover is hinged, being shown in vertical section. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken through the improved lfiling device in the plane indicated by line a a in Fig. l, its lids or covers being shown in closed position. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the device as viewed from the rear end, the lids or covers being shown in full lines in closed and in dotted lines in opened position.

As shown in the views, 1 indicates the body portion of the improved tray, which is made in the ordinary elongated rectangular form and has side walls, the upper edge portions 2 2 of which are shouldered and made in reduced thickness. The body portion l is open at the top, and its upper part is adapted lto be closed or covered over by means of lids or covers 3 3, which have side walls 4 of thickness corresponding with the depth of the shoulders or cut-away portions at the reduced edges 2 of the walls of the body portions, so that when said lids or covers are in closed adjustment the outer surfaces of their side walls 4 will iit iush upon the outer surfaces of the side walls of said body portion 1.

The lids or covers 3 3 are each hinged or pivotally connected at the side walls 4 with the side walls of the body portion of the tray by means of hinges 5 or the like, and said lids or covers 3 are adapted when in closed adjustment to fit over thc open top of said body portion, with their adjacent edges meeting to produce a close joint, as shown at 6, and when said lids or covers are in open position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, they depend down out of the way at opposite sides of the body portion l, with their side walls 4 supported by contact upon the sides of the body portion of the tray.

At the front end of the device the lids or covers 3 3 are provided with projecting handles .7 7, by the manipulation of which the lids or covers may be moved into opened or clos-ed position, and at the rear end of the device said lids or covers are provided adjacent to their hinge connections `5 with the body portion with projecting headed studs 8 8, over and around which is extended a rubber or other elastic band 9, which by its tension serves to hold said lids or covers either in vopened or in closed position, the said studs 8 8 being in the opening and closingof the lids or covers moved so as to stand upon opposite sides of the hinges 5 below and above the same, respectively.

Upon the inner surfaces of the oppositelongitudinal wallslof the body portion 1 are extended frictional engaging devices 10 10, which, as herein shown, are formed of thin metal plates of suitable resilience, the central portions of which are bent or curved away from and out of contact with the inner surfaces of said longitudinal walls,while the upper and lower edges of said metal plates rest upon said surfaces of the walls, the upper edge portions 11 of the metal plates being bent over the reduced upper portions 2 of said longitudinal'walls of the body portion, so as to strengthen the same and to produce a finish extended along them.

12 indicates the follower, which is constructed with a vertically-extended body portion of wood or the like, which is extended transversely across the chamber or space within the body portion 1 of the device and has at opposite ends of its upper part projecting' wings or arms 13 13, adapted to rest and slide along the bent upper edges 11 of the metal plates of which the frictional engaging devices in the body portion are formed, the lower part of the follower being adapted to stand in position to be lfirmly held by the outwardly-bent central portions of said plates, so that the said bent portions of the plates are caused to exert upon the ends of the follower suicient pressure to maintain the follower in position when adjusted within the tray and prevent it from being accidentally moved about therein.

rllhe lower part of the follower is constructed of a horizontal flat block or piece 14:, of wood or the like, held upon the lower edge of the portion 12 slightly above the bottom of the body portion 1 and of a width such that its opposite edge portions 15 15 project upon opposite front and rear sides of said portion 12, as clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

16 indicates the cards or like devices held in the body portion 1, and upon the front surfaces of said cards the rearward projection 15 at the base of the follower is adapted to bear, so as to hold said cards pressed against the back of the tray, as seen in Fig. 1, the projection 15 also servingto provide between the follower and the cards 16 a space m, in which the finger of the user may be inserted for pressing the follower forwardly in the tray. The forward projection 15 upon the follower is also adapted on engagement with the front wall of the tray to afford between said wall and the forward surface of the vertical portion 12 of the follower a similar space to receive the linger of the user, so that the follower may be pressed rearwardly in the tray. For holding the cards or other devices 16 in inclined position within the tray,

as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that when the follower is moved forward to release'th cards the same will stand in position such that the matter written upon them may be more easily read, I provide at the rear end of the body portion a forwardly and downwardly inclined wall 17, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

In the use of the device it will be seen that the lids or covers may be readily opened and will be held by the elastic band 9 in either opened or closed adjustment, so that they are prevented from rattling about or being accidentally opened or closed. Vhen said lids or covQrs are opened, the upper index edges of the cards 16 are exposed, and the linger of the user may be readily inserted in the space fr between the rear side'of the follower and the forward card 16, so that the follower may be pressed forward in the tray to release the cards 16 from pressure, so that they may be inspected or freely removed from the tray.

The frictional engaging devices formed of metal plates 10 afford a satisfactory means for holding the follower in position either pressed against the cards to hold them in position or when moved forward to afford inspection or removal of the cards, and said metal plates 10 also withstand the wear which would otherwise be imposed upon the sides of the body portion and serve to reinforce and strengthen the reduced upper edges of the same, so that said Lipper edges are prevented from being cracked or damaged.

The improved filing device constructed as above described is of an extremely simple and inexpensive nature and is especially well adapted for use, since it is of a very strong and durable construction and is capable of convenient operation, and it will also be obvious from the above description that the device is capable of considerable modification without material departure from the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form and arrangement of the several parts of the device as herein set forth in carrying' out my invention in practice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A filing device comprising a body portion having elongated side walls, frictional engaging devices extended along said side walls and a follower transversely extended in the body portion with ends engaged on said frictional engaging devices.

2. A filing device comprising a body portion having elongated side walls, elastic engaging devices extended along said side walls and a follower transversely extended in the body portion with ends engaged on said elastic engaging devices.

IOO

lIO

A liling device comprising a body portion having elongated side walls, metal plates extended along the side walls with resilient portions extended inward beyond the inner surfaces thereof and a follower transversely extended in the body portion with ends engaged on the extended resilient portions of the metal plates at the side walls of said body portion.

4. A filing device comprising a body portion having elongated side walls, metal plates extended along the inner surfaces of the side walls with central resilient portions pressed inward in the body portion out of contact with the side walls and with upper edges extended over the upper edges of the side walls and a follower transversely extended in the body portion with arms rested on said upper edges of the side walls and ends frictionally engaged by the resilient central portions of said metal plates.

5. A tiling device comprising an elongated body portion adapted to receive index-cards or the like and having its rear end wall inclined forwardly and downwardly for holding said cards in rearwardly-inclined position, a follower movable back and forth within said body portion, and a horizontal flat bar provided along tlie lower edge of the follower, elevated slightly above the bottom of the said body portion and projecting forwardly and rearwardly beyond the saidlower edge of the follower, the forwardly-projecting edge of the iiat bar being adapted for engagement with the front wall of said body portion when `the latter is full to hold the follower spaced from said front wall and the rearwardly-projecting edge of the flat bar being adapted for engagement with the inclined cards for holding them in position with the follower spaced away therefrom for ready manipulation.

Signed at Cincinnati, Ohio, this 14th day of July, 1904:.

JOHN S. NOVVOTNY.

Witnesses:

JOHN ELIAS JONES, WILLIAM SCHUCHARDT. 

